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ROLLING INTO TOWN: Mick Jagger is suprised it's been 40 years since the Rolling Stones played in Wellington. Ahead of the band's NZ shows, he recalls the city as 'pretty'.
Mick Jagger can't believe it's been 40 years since the Rolling Stones played in Wellington – not that he can remember the shows themselves.
But the 62-year-old frontman of the legendary rock 'n' roll band clearly remembers being impressed by the city he thought was "pretty and nicely paced".
"Oh blimey! That was really early, wasn't it? Can you remind me when we played there last?" Jagger asked The Dominion Post yesterday from Japan, where the band is on tour.
The Rolling Stones play in Wellington on April 18. They last played in Wellington Town Hall on February 28, 1966.
"That's a long while, so that's good that we're coming back," Jagger said.
At one of the two shows the Stones gave at the Town Hall in 1966 about 300 teenagers broke through a police cordon at the front of the stage. Jagger was floored by a boy's flying tackle. Does he remember that?
"We used to get a lot of that. Girls jumping on stage and guys. But I must say I don't remember being rugby-tackled on stage," he said, laughing.
Jagger was also surprised to be reminded the Stones played two shows a day for most of those tours, including Wellington.
"People say, `You've got no energy now', but we used to only play half an hour then. But sometimes those 30-minute shows got to be less than 30 minutes because the pitch was invaded, so to speak.
"I can't remember the concerts, but I do remember Wellington and what it looked like and everything. It had the old English cars and all that, you know.
"It was still looking very much like the 50s, which is a rather wonderful look. We were very impressed by the way it looked. It was pretty and nicely paced, I thought. I remember the hotel staff being dressed with little white caps and things, like the 30s. It was very old-fashioned, but it was very charming at the same time and unhurried."
Prod Jagger a bit more and he can remember a little about the 1965 tour – "We were doing it with Roy Orbison" – and playing in Invercargill, which Keith Richards called "the arsehole of the world".
"We all remember that. I think we were kind of rude then. We didn't pull any punches."
